eBay, for all the good it has done with Skype, has been unable to monetize what is the most popular VoIP client around. Despite its popularity, eBay has decided to bid Skype farewell; it will be spun off as its own IPO in 2010. This move seems to be a major attempt for eBay to save some respect, as the other alternative would have been for eBay to sell Skype back to its original developers, and they were really hoping to buy.
The problem that eBay had with Skype was that they saw the service and immediately thought it would be a great way for buyers and sellers to actually talk to each other. But that is something that eBay misinterpretted about its own service: heavy eBay users do not want to make what are obstensibly phone calls at least once per transaction. This is something that people who use cell phones frequently have known for a long time. When it suffices, it is far more convenient to just send a text message. eBay already had that functionality; it did not need Skype.
